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OPINION

Letter: Approach to public education isn't working

In response to the letter “Vouchers shortchange public schools,” the U.S. Department of Education began operating in 1980. We spend more per pupil than any other country, but among industrialized nations, American students rank near the bottom in science and math. We know our current approach to education isn’t working. We can do better.

The government monopoly over schools has limited consumer choice and competition between different types of schools, resulting in an absence of improvement. Alternative schools were born out of frustration with this monopoly and the mediocre instruction it provides.

The voucher program gives parents the right to choose where to send their children and escape the failing public schools. Whether that choice is charter schools, private schools or religious schools makes no difference. Those parents are paying their tax dollars, and choice lets them decide where that money will be spent.

If any school -- private, public or charter -- does not have adequate voluntary enrollment to meet its own expenses, based on its achievement and outcome for its students, then it is not doing its job and doesn’t deserve continued taxpayer funding.

There is no such thing as a for-profit charter school. They are governed by appointed school boards that sometimes choose to hire for-profit companies to staff and manage their facilities, such as transportation, janitorial services, food services and educational materials. They are under contract, and if they are not effective they can be fired at the end of their contract.

Is Betsy DeVos the best selection for education secretary? I don’t know, but what I do know is our education system is broken and our children deserve much better. In that she support vouchers in the best interest of the children, rather than the unions, I’ll support her.